The Art of War
by DanaIsis
Summary: A new intake on the battle through the eyes of the other civilians and military in the Los Angeles area. In collaboration with New-Classic22.
1. The Day The World Went Away

**Disclaimer: I do not own Battle: Los Angeles and I most probably never will.**

**AN: So, this is it my peeps! The first chapter of the OC story, THE ART OF WAR! It is now a collab with the beautiful, amazing DanaIsis! So, if you've seen our other stories (IF NOT GO READ THEM AFTER THIS), then you'll know ****I**** have never written anything quite like this before. It is as new to me as a computer would be to a T-Rex. So I hope I don't disappoint you. I'm sorta nervous… Well, here goes nothing!**

**Chapter 1: The Day The World Went Away**

_**By: New-Classic22**_

Smoke and dust filled the hot air, so much so that it was making it hard to see past the end of her nose. Somewhere far away she heard an explosion, as another one of their Helos was shot down. Elena Santos made an effort to keep the image of her burning comrades out of her mind. _The only survivor._ She thought to herself as she whisked around, moving her head from side to side with every step. _How the hell can I be the only fucking survivor! Domino had more protection on than me! I know, God had mercy on them. He took them away before they could endure any more pain. Obviously he's got it in for me! _She turned herself around so that she was walking sideways with her back against the concrete wall of the building beside her. As she looked around she saw deserted cars, some overturned, and worst of all, more bodies. Bodies of women, children, and men, just scattered across the ground like poppy seeds. She looked across the road to see a woman lying on the ground and underneath her was a baby boy, his hands still wrapped in his mother's shirt. Santos stopped for a moment and took in the sad sight. She let out a small sigh.

Suddenly, she heard movement. She crouched down and raised her M16 to her eye, and switched off the safety that she had turned on during the silence. She didn't move. Trying to hear where the noise was coming from. She heard a rock slide to her right and turned as fast as she could. Between her and the noise was a line of cars, making it impossible to see what the noise was. She saw a flicker of green flash out from behind the car and immediately fired. As soon as she did they fired back, probably about eight of them. She dove behind an overturned station wagon, and leant against it, breathing heavily. Suddenly the fire stopped. She realized that they were both shooting blind. She stayed like that for about two minutes before she cautiously reached for a small piece of concrete that was lying by her feet. She picked up the palm sized piece and threw it out into the open. It made a loud skidding sound and she waited for the guns to begin firing. They did not. All of a sudden, she heard the distinct sound of a rifle being cocked. This confused her. _Aren't their weapons like, highly superior to ours? Why would it have to cock a rifle?_

She thought about what she heard harder, and then decided to take one of the biggest risks she thought she would ever take. Slowly, she took off the helmet she had been wearing so her long brown hair could be seen, and raised her hands above her head. _God, If I die doing this, I swear to mother you're gonna get an earful when I get there!_ She then rose from her crouching position on the ground so the she was standing up straight. She heard guns being hurriedly cocked and squeezed her eyes, waiting for the buzzing of bullets that would end her life.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" A stern voice yelled, and Elena slowly opened her eyes to see a group of Marines running her way, crouching with their heads down. As they rounded the station wagon, she turned around and leant back against the underside of the car. She let out a breath as they joined her. A few of them sat down but the oldest, biggest man squatted down, resting on his haunches. He had shaved brown hair, dark green eyes and a deep scar on the left side of his face. She put the helmet back on her head and fastened the strap.

"Wow, am I glad to see you!" She said with a tired smirk on her face. The rest of the platoon nodded, and smiled at her before some of them turned so that they could guard the team as they took a minor rest.

"I'm Officer Xavier Scott. Call me Six," said one of the youngest looking of the group. He had a blonde crew-cut, dark blue-grey eyes and a cheeky grin. She also saw that he had a bandage wrapped around his left thigh that had a crimson patch in the middle of it. He saw her looking. "Don't worry, I ran into a juttin' out piece of concrete and it cut my leg. It's just a scratch!" she smiled and he smiled back, his eyes sparkling. She shook his gloved hand, turned her head to the man seated next to him and beside her.

"Gunnery Sergeant Logan McCullers—I go by Charge," he said, shaking her hand. His hair was a slightly longer chocolate brown, matted to his tanned face with sweat, and dark blue eyes. His tall build made her look like a rabbit compared to him, and that was strange for her since she was never the smallest of a group before. She smiled at him and he returned it. She looked to her other side and smiled at the young man kneeling there.

"My name's Corporal David Thomas Trippett. Please call me Tripp. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said in a thick English accent. Elena was slightly surprised, but still shook his hand. His brown hair was cut extremely short, and his eyes were an emerald green. The rest of the team sounded off their name, and finally Santos turned back to the large man, still sitting on his haunches.

"Major Nick Ambrose. Don't ask how I got my scar 'cause it would not be pretty. We're the 40th ID, minus some, plus English marine, marine, and other," he said in his deep voice, pointing at Tripp, then Charge, and then Santos. A laugh circulated through the small group. "What do you go by?" Santos watched as all attention was turned to her. They all had sweat and dirt plastered on their faces, and she suddenly realized that she probably looked the same. Charge had soot all over him, making his pale skin look like a spotted Dalmatian, and Tripp had a graze down his shoulder like he had just slid on his arm. She looked around at the group.

"Technical Sergeant Elena Santos, Air Force, 61st wing, Intel & Surveillance, Re-Con Division," she said. They all gave her quizzical looks before she explained. "Our Helo was blown out of the sky about twenty minutes ago. I was the only one that got out alive." She looked at the ground sadly for a moment, but then continued, ignoring the sympathetic looks the team were giving her. "We were tracking enemy transmissions when they ambushed us, like they knew our freakin' address," She finished, more mad than sad at this point. Tripp patted her shoulder.

Out of nowhere, they heard a series of gunshots coming from around the corner, about three hundred meters away. The troop shot up, as well as Santos, grabbing their weapons and pulling them to their eyes. They heard people yelling as more shots were fired.

The Major took his right hand and made the forward gesture, telling them to move back around to the other side of the car, the side away from the chaos. They nodded and did as they were instructed. As they made their way around the car, Elena was set to go out behind the youngest soldier, one whose name she had learned was Robert "Tank" McGrew. As he scuttled out around the car, he dropped his two way radio. It slid a little way out, and Tank stopped to grab it. They all yelled at him to not bother but he went after it anyway. Elena looked to her right; her rifle cocked, and saw movement on a nearby roof.

"Tank Move!" she yelled right as a round of ammo was blown in their direction. She ran out and pushed him behind the car beside them, on the other side of the road.

"Where the hell did that even come from?" hollered Charge, pointing his gun all around them. They were all looking around like Meer cats, with their guns raised, shooting in every direction.

"Santos, Tank! Are you alright?" Tripp bellowed whilst firing at a nearby post box.

"We're Fine! THEY'RE UP ON THE ROOF!" Santos shouted. The entire unit turned their attention to the roofs of the buildings beside them. They all saw the movement at the same time, on the building to their left. The moment the first of their shot were fired, they were mowed with these flaming bullets, the same kind that had flown at Tank and were forced to hide behind the cars, popping up and firing before diving back under cover. As Santos popped back down, she heard a loud groan from behind her. She turned and saw that Tank had yet to rise from the ground. She suddenly had a horrible revelation, and grabbed his shoulder, turning him over. His face was fine, although covered with dirt. He was fine until you saw his chest.

A giant burning hole was blown right into the right side of his chest - like a giant crater. She gasped and called over to the others.

"Tank's been hit!" many cries were heard from the other car, but the bullets were preventing them from getting over to her. She looked down again at the hole and felt as though she was about to be sick. She had seen people burning, head wounds so bad that their brains were leaking out, she had seen a Helo be crumpled into a ball and then explode in a fiery mess whilst her friends and team mates had been inside, yet she had never felt like she was going to hurl up her breakfast like she was at this moment, watching over a bullet wound that was literally burning away at the boys flesh like acid. As fast as the assault began, it stopped. Everything was suddenly silent. After about thirty seconds, Charge scuttled over to the car that Santos was pressed against.

"Do you know anything about first aid?" Santos asked, leaning over to him. He nodded his head quickly and pulled a kit from his bag. He grabbed a bottle of water and gently poured it onto Tanks chest. Tank screamed, and started flailing his arms and legs around. Santos grabbed his arms and pinned him to the ground, and Tripp did the same to his legs. Charge grabbed a patch from the kit and pressed it to the wound, and it immediately became a sickening blood red, mixed with a slight off yellow color. He took it off and replaced it pressing it down tightly, but the wound didn't stop bleeding, he repeated this several times, each time the same as the last. Then, his body went limp; he stopped flailing, and his eyes got a distant look in them. Charge began trying to do CPR on him, but no matter how many times he did it, it wouldn't work. Tripp gently took his shoulders and pried him away from the deceased marine, a few tears finding their way down his face. Santos gave him a sympathetic look and slowly closed Tank's eyes.

"We have to go," said the Major, standing guard with his back to them. Charge rose to his feet, anger boiling in his veins. As he stormed over to the Major, he turned around. Charge fronted up to the Major.

"We can't just LEAVE him here!" he practically shouted in his face. They all turned to him.

"We _have_ to! Now stand down marine," the Major shouted back. Charge put his head down and took a step back. The major nodded. "Look, I don't like this either, but we only have two options: take him with us, slow us down and make us an easy target, or leave him here, and get away as safely and efficiently as possible. Does everyone understand?" He said, speaking to the entire unit of soldiers. They all nodded and a mumbled "Yes Sir" came from a few of them.

"Alright, now it's time to move," He said, leading the team away from their young colleague. They quickly returned to formation, with Santos standing at the back. They listened for any signs of the alien attackers returning, but heard none. As they neared the corner, they heard shouting coming from a nearby house. They all ran to the corner, Six and the Major slowly showed themselves. A loud whistle was heard and they all ran to the duplex in which the other marines were positioned. As she ran inside, she noticed the bewildered looks that were being given to her.

"What's your unit?" The man with the tag that said Nantz said. _Nantz_, she thought for a moment. _Wait, Staff Sergeant Nantz was the one who got his men killed in his last tour in Afghanistan! This is gonna be interesting._ A slight smirk brushed her lips whilst she was trying to control her breathing.

"40th ID," answered one of the older men.

"Where's the rest of your unit?" Asked the Latino man that appeared in charge, who she later found out was named Martinez.

"Everyone else is either dead or missing. I picked up airforce here!" he managed to say in between huffs of breath. He gestured towards Santos when he spoke about her.

"Tech Sergeant Elena Santos, Air Force, 61st Wing, Intel Surveillance, Re-Con Division," When she spoke she found that she was rather short of breathe herself.

He asked what the hell she was doing out here, and she explained with the same little speech she had given the rest of the unit beforehand. Nantz asked if she was ready to use her weapon and she had to fight to suppress a laugh.

"With all due respect staff sergeant, I didn't get this far off of my good looks. I'm ready for payback," She said looking directly into his eyes, feeling her heart race at the thoughts of killing the bastard who took out her team. _Oh God!_ She thought. _Did Hayley get out?_ Hayley Santos is Santos's little sister, who goes to the high school in town. Santos took a second to think of the positive. _Of course she got out. The school would have evacuated them first. _She nodded quietly to herself as the now connected platoon made their way out of the house, apparently towards a police station. When they got there, she was told that when the bird arrived she would need to help their insertion. She nodded her head in understanding as she stooped down between Tripp and Six.

"When do you think the bird is gonna land?" She asked, resting her hands on each of their shoulders.

"Soon I hope!" Six said, the look of brightness quickly fading from his face.

"You know, if I get to tell anyone back in Peterborough that I was huddled in a police station during my R&R, hiding and protecting civilians against Extra Terrestrials they are all gonna think I've gone round the bend," Tripp said, to no-one in particular. Santos, Six and Charge who had seated himself next to them had just had to laugh. Tripp joined in to and soon enough the whole group seated outside where laughing along with them. _We have begun the descent into madness. Hey, It's better than hell!_

The Asian male from the other team, pulled out his radio and listened intently for a second. He shouted that the bird was on its way in and they all immediately silenced. Santos and Tripp jumped up, along with the Major and a few others whose names she had not yet found out. One of them took a smoke bomb out of his vest and pegged it into the middle of the parking lot, marking the place for the Chopper to land. They all saw the bird land and started helping the injured marines inside. After Santos had helped carry the man with the burns to his face to the chopper, she ran back towards the station. Her back was turned to the bird as it took off, but she turned when she heard a loud whistling sound.

Just as she turned she saw a flaming rocket fly towards the Helo. As it connected, she shielded her eyes. Scrap metal flew every which way, and the shockwave was so powerful that it bowled her and a few others that were still too close straight over. As she rose from the ground she saw the entire machine was up in flames. When it was about to fall to earth she figured that she would be in exactly the position of the blade when it landed. She scrambled to her feet and made a run for cover. She dived back under the awning of the Police Station just in time, being pulled in by Charge as she dove. She was right; the propeller had hit squarely where she had been lying. She took a gasping breath and Charge and Tripp patted her on the back.

Santos took charge and led the civilians, along with Tripp, the Major, and Six back into the police station, and into a room near the back of the building. She saw a body and asked for the boys to move it that the kids wouldn't have to see it. When she was crouched down, guarding the window she vaguely heard thumping coming from behind her. She swung around and looked back. All that was behind her was a doorway that she suspected led to the holding cells. Tripp and Six ran back in, again with their rifles cocked.

"Wh… What is that?" asked one of the civilians by the name of Michelle. Santos shook her head in an effort to tell them to be quiet as she slowly shifted over to the door. Tripp flanked her as Six took up her prier position guarding the window, taking out of his pocket a Harmonica, and started playing a happy tune to cheer up the kids. Santos rolled her eyes and Tripp snorted, before again becoming serious and making their way down the dark corridor. She heard the banging again coming from the far end of the hallway. They tried every door handle until they reached the end, but they were all locked. The last one Tripp tried, however, was not. He slowly twisted the handle clockwise and swung the door open all the way.

Inside, like Santos had suspected, was a room filled with holding cells. Tripp gestured for Santos to take the right side and him to take the left. As she rounded the corner, a medium sized stone hurtled towards her head. She dove back around the corner and landed with a grunt. Tripp came running from the other side of the room and helped her up. He cocked his rifle and was about to swing around the corner when Santos put her hand on it and told him to lower it. She dropped her gun and walked around the corner.

"What the hell _are_ you…?" He started as she moved, before she grabbed his arm and pulled him around to.

"US Air Force!" Santos shouted down the row of cells. She looked at him expectantly and nodded. He rolled his eyes.

"Fine. British Royal Marines," he said. They heard the sound of a rock being dropped and Santos smiled.

"I'm back here! For Christ's sake let me out!" A female voice yelled from down the row. Santos ran to where she was and looked inside. Taupe colored fingers were white knuckled as they gripped around the metal bars. The owner was a girl who looked to be no more than nineteen years of age Her long, wavy black hair covered her face and her brown almond shaped eyes looked warily—a mix of both fear and anxiety. The white ribbed tank top that read: PINK! had a few speck of dirt on it, her distressed shorts in the similar fashion as her yellow and white polka dotted bikini peeked through the fabric. Her cowboy boot clad feet brought her to a stand from the crouched up position she was in a few seconds ago. Santos and Tripp smiled at her and she smiled back. Tripp got to work on opening the door—it was jammed, and Santos searched across the room for anyone else. Not seeing anyone else she quickly returned to Tripp and started to help him. They finally managed to get the door off of its hinges and pull it away. The girl ran out and hugged both Santos and Tripp.

"Thank you so much! I thought I was gonna die in that cell! I'm Ariel, Ariel Ines Mrazo. I was coming home from the beach this morning and was arrested for speeding. My friend Maddy was supposed to pick me up, but then I started hearing shooting and explosions and crashing noises! Oh god! I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've had a panic attack!" she went on as they led her out of the room, to the other civilians. "I'm sorry I ramble when I'm nervous."

"Hey, at least you don't have to pay the ticket now!" Tripp said, trying to lighten the mood. Ariel laughed and nodded. Santos rolled her eyes and retook her position by the window. The smoke in the room was beginning to be overpowering, and the medic came in to check the children and the civilians, and Ariel sat down beside the young boy.

"Hey. What's your name?" she asked, leaning in close to him.

"I'm Hector. You?" he replied in a quiet voice. Ariel smiled and she struck up a conversation with him and one of the children, Kirsten. Santos smiled slightly, before more thoughts of her little sister popped into her mind. _God, If I had one more chance to see her, _She thought. _I would have made sure to have told her I love her. I don't remember the last time I told her somethin' sappy like that!_ Without her noticing, Tripp and Charge had taken places beside her. Tripp wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she gave them both a weak smile. She noticed the way Charge was looking at Ariel, and gave a little sigh.

"Better make the most of your rest, soldiers! We'll have to move soon." They heard Martinez yell from somewhere down the hall. An audible groan was heard throughout the station. _Of course we will!_ She thought. _'Cause isn't that chapter 9 in The Art of War? Man, I wish I'd _read_ that book!_

**Hi! So I hope you like this chapter! **

**It took me a while but I totally enjoyed writing it! I hope you like what I did with your characters! And yes, I know that some of them were not used, but we will get around to them in either the next chapter or the one after that! **

**Now, Let me tell ya'll how this is gonna work. I am gonna write every uneven numbered chapter (1, 3, 5 and so on) and the fantabulous DanaIsis is gonna write every even chapter (2, 4, 6 and so on). DanaIsis is gonna BETA all of mine, and if she wants I will for hers to! Does everyone understand? Great! **

**PS: DanaIsis, I am so super duper sorry about the mix up. You know what I am talkin' about! When I originally posted it was like 1am and I was to lazy to proof read. I must have clicked the wrong file when I uploaded it. I'm a moron. :( **

**ANYWAY! READ AND REVIEW MY FRIENDS! **

**LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! :D**


	2. A Storm Is Coming

**The Art of War**

**Disclaimer: Battle: Los Angeles isn't mine—it won't ever be.**

**AN: So here is the first chapter from me. *dodges thrown objects* I'm so terribly sorry for this late update! It's not like me, but I had other personal things to attend to so that was my only priority. Anywho I hope you all enjoy my input along with the awesome New-Classic22 who allowed me to write this with her. you'll notice the jump back in time, and that's only because I like to start out with character development before I jump into battle—no pun intended—when I'm writing a story. So we've done it where we'll each have a set of OCs that will meet up fairly soon and then the story will flow quite nicely from there. Now this chapter is pre-attack, and the attack/action scenes won't come until the fourth chapter unless New-Classic22 decides to write it in chapter three. Anyway…**

**Here it goes…**

**Chapter 2: A Storm Is Coming**

_**The D Crew**_

_**90 Minutes before the attack…**_

The Ink Spots "_I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire_" played on the overhead of the photography shop "Take A Shot". The owner, David Benjamin "Benny" Hernandez, quietly worked in the back room, developing photos for a friend. As he hung up each photo individually on the drying line in the dark room the Hispanic man's brown skin was tinged red in the lighting. The photography shop was David's way of getting away from military life. The photos he was developing weren't his own but a friend; Irn Papadakos.

Irn was a regular customer and friend of David. The eighteen year old was only five years David's junior as he was currently a student at UCLA studying as a photography major and being that Irn hadn't had his own developing room or money to rent one out, Benny offered to help the kid out by doing it for him for free—in return Irn helped run the shop on days when Benny was busy—which was a lot.

David took a look at the photos as they hung on the line. He stood back, crossing his arms across his chest as he admired the kid's work. _Boys got real talent…_ he thought to himself as he looked over each and every shot. _Yeah, real talent. _

"No, no, no, no, no! Oh c'mon you cannot do this to me!" the twenty-nine year old woman said as she slapped her palms against the steering wheel. "I'm gonna kill Mikey…" she seethed in anger. Mickey was her older brother who she had allowed to borrow her car, and she had just received it back from him yesterday. Her gas tank was full, but the engine light was flickering on and off. This was something she couldn't fix.

She reached into her purse, rummaging through her compact mirror, hospital doctor's ID, and even an old Marine base ID she kept, until her fingers grasped what she was searching for—her cell phone. She dialed the numbers to AAA, and waited impatiently for someone to answer. Finally she heard a greeting on the receiving end and she expressed her issue. The operator told her she should expect them in about thirty to forty-five minutes. She wasn't up for waiting that long, but she had to grin and bear it.

She tossed the phone back into the purse and looked around her to see what she was around. The sign in the building in front of her read "Take A Shot"; clever for a photography store. She threw on a smile and pressed on; she wasn't going to let her brother's antics get to her today. Allison exited the Impala and headed towards the store. She walked in and noticed the old style of the shop—it even had oldies music playing overhead, that voice was Otis Redding if she remembered correctly.

"Excuse me, how can I help you?" Benny said upon noticing the dark haired women at the front desk, she had short black hair, and looked to be older than him, but not by much. Her attire showed a sort of professionalism—perhaps she was a doctor or a lawyer—for she wore a black cardigan, a green camisole, and black dress pants, she was much better dressed than his black shirt and blue jeans.

"Yeah," the woman spoke. "My car broke down just outside and I called a tow truck—I was just wondering if it would be alright if I waited in here? The guy said he'd be here in 'bout half an hour…is that okay?"

David furrowed his brows in humor. "Of course you can wait in here if that's the case—I'm David by the way." He held out a hand towards her with a smile on his face. "This is my shop."

"Oh great, thanks a lot. I'm Allison," she said accepting the friendly gesture. "It's a pretty cool place you got here." She took in the old style décor and nodded in approval. "Well I'm just gonna look around until the guy gets here—maybe I'll end up buying something," she laughed.

"Hey no problem, if you need anything I'll be over here," he pointed over by the register.

"Cool thanks," Allison said as she smiled and wandered off to the lenses section while David went about his business.

"Hey Benny," came a young masculine voice as someone else walked in the shop. The boy was average height and slim. He had a girl with him of similar age; curly red hair, and green eye, she looked familiar to him.

David looked towards the door to see it belonged to Irn who was telling something to the friend he walked in with. "Oh hey Irn, perfect timing ya know," he said nodding towards Irn as he walked up to him. "C'mon your photos should be dry by now." David said as they continued towards the back room.

Irn's friend, Robin, looked over some of the photography belonging to David as she waited for them to return. For some reason she felt as if she had definitely seen him before. She would be sure to ask when they got back. At first Robin thought maybe David was a guy Irn liked, but she could tell he wasn't his type at all. No Irn usually went for the artsy types, and although David was a photographer she could tell he was very masculine, straight, and not artsy at all—just liked to take photos.

David and Irn were flipping through the photos as they made their way back towards the front. "Hey who's your friend?" David asked as Irn looked over how each photo came out. "Oh that's Robin, she's an artist too—mostly paintings. She's actually saving up to buy herself a gallery to showcase 'em—you should talk to her 'bout that," Irn said as they finally reached the front desk where Robin had made her presence known.

"Hi, I'm David so Irn tells me you're into art—you know I get the notion I've seen you before somewhere…" David started. Robin nodded in agreement. "Yeah—I think we have met before, but briefly, you look _so_ familiar—wait, a couple months back I went to an art showcasing—I think you may have been there," Robin stated, everything coming back to her finally.

"Yeah, I did go to one a while back—you had a few pieces dealing with landscapes and such yeah? Not to mention your hair is hard to forget," David joked to her. "Oh yeah, that was me—small world huh?" Robin replied as she laughed and smiled at the memory.

_**30 Minutes before the attack…**_

Allison was still waiting on the tow truck to arrive. She continued to walk around, browsing, until she came across a sticker in the window that read "_Semper Fidelis_" _So he is or was a Marine, eh?_ Allison thought to herself. Her family was also Marines, so it only made sense for her to join when she was eighteen too. She was twenty-nine now, but her older brother was still enlisted whereas she was not.

She walked over to the front desk where David was standing. "So…'first of foot'…" she started at him. "'And right of line' he finished the marine slogan with a smirk on his face as he looked up from what he was doing to see Allison smirking at him as well. "Are you…?" He asked carefully. She laughed, "No, I was a doctor when I was enlisted, so when I got out I became a doctor at a hospital—decided to keep it in the family," she giggled. "How 'bout yourself?"

"Oh I'm just on leave at the moment, but I'll be back in real soon I'm sure," he said to her. "So how long wer—" the ringing of the phone cut him off, the phone in his office was going off. "Could you excuse me a minute?" Allison nodded as David headed to his office.

"Take A Shot—how can I help ya?" he answered on the phone. "Hey, hey Benny Boy!" _Johnny,_ David thought to himself. He knew that voice anywhere. "Hey Fig," David said suppressing a laugh. "Oh ya know same 'ol, same 'ol. But Josh and I are on our way to pick up our weapons—ya tuned 'em up right?"

"Yep, they're nice and tuned—say how far are you guys?" David asked. In the basement of his photography shop, David also had a provision room where he kept some things like food, weapons, and things like that. And occasionally he would tune up his weapons for his Marine buddies and even a few of the local cops around here.

"We're 'bout ten minutes from the shop, that cool?" Johnny said on the phone. "Yeah, just come in through the back alright—don't need you guys scarin' off me customers with ya jarhead gear on," he laughed. "Alright man, see ya soon then." And with that they hung up the phone. David made his way back out towards the front to see Irn rummaging through a bag he brought with him.

"Hey man you diggin' for buried treasure in there?" David joked to his friend. Irn rolled his eyes and nodded. "In a sense—yes," he said finally grasping something and pulling it out. "Check it out, what do ya think?" Irn pulled out an old style Rolleiflex 2.8F TLR. "That is _very_ nice Irn, where'd you pick this up?" David said as Irn passed him the camera as he took out his cleaning kit and brushed it off for him a bit.

"My dad sent it to me—said he found it in this thrift store and knew I had to have it," he said as he watched David examine it. "so you think it's any good? Will it work fine?"

"Shoot—a beaut like this? Of course she'll work just perfectly," he said really admiring the camera. "Here," he said handing it back to him. "You take real good care of this alright?"

"Oh I will," Irn said placing the camera back in its case, and then back in his bag. "Robin I think I can take some really nice photos of your artwork with this," he said as she stood beside him. "Yeah? Well we'll have to see, maybe with some decent photos of them I can send it to that that school I wanna go to for my semester abroad," she replied with a raise of her brow.

David smiled at the two friends. He glanced at the clock and decided he ought to head downstairs to meet up with Fig and Josh. "Hey Irn you mind holding down the fort for a minute? I've gotta head down to the basement for a bit," he asked him. "Sure, no problem," he replied. "Thanks," he said as he once again made a trip towards the back and to the basement.

_**15 Minutes before the attack…**_

"Hey Robin," Irn called out to his friend who sat next to him behind the desk. "David's music is nice, but I'm not feeling it at the moment—would you mind grabbing my ipod from the car?" he asked her pleadingly. "Oh I know what ya mean, I will gladly do that," she said grabbing the keys from his hand and heading towards the front and out the door. She walked over to the dark green '71 Plymouth Road Runner, opened the door and unhooked Irn's ipod from the new stereo and exited the car.

She headed back towards the shop, slowing down her pace as she watched the officer putting a ticket on the silver Nissan Pathfinder. The truck was parked directly in front of the store and no doubt in a fire zone. She figured it belonged to someone inside and rushed back in to let them know they were getting a ticket.

"Hey of anyone owns a silver truck…you're getting a ticket," she said loud enough for the couple of customers in the shop could hear her. "Oh crap that's me!" Allison exclaimed as she grabbed her purse and rushed outside.

"Hey, hey wait a minute this is not my fault!" she said as she began defending her situation. "Miss you're in a fire zone, didn't you see that fire hydrant right there?" the officer asked her. "Look Officer…Kashiwara, I can completely explain what happened here. My car just stalled and stopped on me—I honestly have no idea why, but I already have a tow truck on its way—" She looked ahead and low and behold just a few blocks away was a AAA tow truck. "See! It's right there, so no need to write me a ticket right?"

Officer Kashiwara looked at her with amusement and placed his ticket pad back in his pocket. "Well if you're towing yourself outta here I guess not then," he said. "But it's still in a tight spot, here, put it in neutral and we'll push it closer to the parking lot so the guy can get it hooked on alright, he suggested. "Yeah, thanks a lot," she said breathing a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was a ticket on her car—she already had three others all because of her brother. She went to put the car in neutral and the officer began pushing the car with her help.

"This looks really good Benny, thanks," Johnny said as he looked over his prized M4 Carbine. It looked brand new and even the sticker that read "Marine's HooRah" on it was nice looking. "Yeah, it looks real good—thanks man," he said bumping his fist and giving him a man-hug. "And Josh here's your M16A4—all nicely tuned up for ya as well," David said handing the assault rifle to him.

"Nice work man," Josh said to him. "So when ya comin' back to us? Ya know the guys miss ya over there," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his tone of voice. "Like I keep saying guys soon alright," David laughed as the three joked down in the basement.

All of a sudden each was thrown off of their balance and fell to the ground as the floor shook beneath them. "What the hell was that?" Josh said steadying himself. "That was not an earthqu—" the floor once again shook and they stumbled a second time. "Let's go check this out," David said hurrying upstairs to see what was going on. When they were up there, it seemed everyone was standing outside already. The three walked to join them only to see the drone like machines hovering in the sky a couple of blocks away. Buildings were already on fire, and people were running like chickens with their heads cut off—it was like a warzone.

"Well Benny boy…I guess you're coming back to us a bit sooner than ya thought."

**AN: There ya have it, chapter two written by moi. Lemme know your thoughts in a review or pm. Also any "hate" mail that was sent to New-Classic22 because of late updates is just ridiculous…Patience is a virtue—We have a lives outside of fanfic, and higher priorities (family issues, college life, etc.) as I'm sure you all do as well. So please don't send her things like that—it's unnecessary.**

_**By: DanaIsis**_


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